The banana split ice cream is an ice cream-based pudding. It is served in a long dish called a "boat". It was allegedly invented in 1904 by David E. Strickler, a 1906 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. A banana is sliced lengthwise into two (hence the split) and laid in the dish. Deviations abound, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in a row on the split banana. Pineapple topping is spooned above the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup above the chocolate, and strawberry topping above the strawberry. It is decorated with crushed nuts, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.
The city has been celebrating the 100th anniversary of the creation of the banana split in 1904. Strickler is credited as the creator of the banana-based triple ice cream sundae in Michael Turback's The Banana Split Book.
Historians say, a Boston ice-cream manufacturer came up with the same sundae--with one minor flaw. He provides the banana splits with the unpeeled bananas until he discovered that ladies preferred them peeled.
Town fathers in Wilmington, Ohio, maintain their city southeast of Dayton is the hometown of the popular treat. They declared 1907 was the year and restaurant owner Ernest Hazard was the man. The town celebrates the occasion each June with a Banana Split Festival.
According to town lore, Hazard required to attract erratic students from Wilmington College during the slow days of winter. He staged an employee competition to come up with a new ice cream dish. When none of his employers was up to the chore, he split a banana lengthwise, threw it into an elongated dish and created his own dessert.
Walgreen's is recognized with spreading the reputation of the banana split. Charles Walgreen implemented the banana split as the signature dessert in the chain of drugstores he founded in Chicago.
Dairy Queen alone sells more than 25 million banana splits each year.